


The Final Stop on Patrick Kane's College Tour

by orphan_account



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Kaner what is your life, M/M, Partying, Pining, blame tumblr, blame twitter, post game 6, stupid boys in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-29
Updated: 2012-04-29
Packaged: 2017-11-04 13:13:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/394255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Johnny isn’t proud that he sometimes has to resort to the internet in order to find out where Patrick is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Final Stop on Patrick Kane's College Tour

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to liketheroad for great beta. Spawned from comments we shared, the fact that Patrick Kane's life is way too documented on the internet, and all my feeeeelings regarding these two boys.

Johnny isn’t proud that he sometimes has to resort to the internet in order to find out where Patrick is. This usually occurs during the off-season more than anytime else. It’s kind of pathetic, is what it is, but honestly, he doesn’t see many other options when Kaner won’t respond to his texts or answer his calls. He doesn’t expect Kaner to take off without a words notice merely two days after they’d cleaned out their lockers. Johnny went to Kaner’s apartment, stood knocking at the door for about five minutes (as it’s taken that long before to for him to answer before) until he finally gave up. When he returned the next day the doorman told him “Mr. Kane” had left with a suitcase earlier.

He knows Kaner didn’t go home yet; that would’ve definitely required more than one suitcase, just for his sneakers alone. On Friday night he turns to social media and in an embarrassingly short period of time discovers Kaner is partying it up at Boston College, apparently with Lucic and some Flames prospect Johnny didn’t even know he knew. He hopes beyond hope Seguin and Marchand have already fucked off back home because honestly, because god only knows what the three of them coul get up to. 

He goes to bed feeling restless. The next day, the internet tells him Kaner not only hooked up with some random girl’s friend but is now suddenly partying at a college in Iowa City. He knows he can’t believe everything the internet says but he’s pretty damn sure the first part of this is true because no one would lie about sleeping with Patrick Kane. It’s not exactly something to brag about; he should know, they’ve been doing it on and off for years now. The last time was after the game. Johnny wasn’t expecting it to happen and when it did, he was thought it would turn into something angry and rough but instead they just kissed until their lips were bitten raw and he fucked Kaner face to face, pretending the wetness in his eyes was from sweat and nothing else.

Their thing was always casual and Johnny was more than aware Kaner was still sleeping with anyone and anything he could, given the times they’d fuck and Johnny would find bruises on him he definitely hadn’t left. He knows Kaner is more into women and given Kaner’s track record for casual, drunken hookups this is basically good for the NHL, as it means no random tweets from _guys_ he’s hooked up with would be making the rounds. Johnny’s pretty sure, though, that whenever Kaner is so inclined he whips out a non-disclosure agreement upon sleeping with the same sex. 

The thought sets him on edge because it’s totally fine for the world to know Patrick Kane is a whore when it comes to women, he doesn’t even try to make one of his hookups keep it on the downlow, yet it would be the worst thing ever to know he likes dick. It’s a double standard in the worst way and Johnny isn’t down with that shit. He wonders if Kaner would adhere to that sort of mentality if he weren’t in the NHL. He’s not so sure. 

Johnny, on the other hand, is definitely more gay than anything else yet at the same time he’d rather just play hockey than deal with anything else. He hasn’t slept with anyone on the regular besides Kaner for a while now. To Johnny, he feels he already sowed most of his wild oats when he was seventeen and in college. The Hawks had snatched him up pretty early but he still had time to fool around with girls, guys, smoke pot, get drunk, and get arrested; all in short period of time. 

By the time he’d made it to the NHL he didn’t really care about anything else. Kaner, on the other hand, liked to pretend he was an ordinary college kid who wasn’t the face of a franchise. 

Johnny isn’t exactly surprised Kaner is off getting drunk and sleeping his way through Co-eds. He’s the type of person who shows his vulnerability from the outset and then tries to mask it under laugher and distraction. Kaner was real after the game when he skated over to Johnny. He was real in Johnny’s arms that night. It was when he was laughing things off in the press conference and clapping Johnny on the shoulder saying, “I’m fine, man,” that he was anything but. 

Johnny’s the opposite. He likes to quietly contemplate his feelings and work them out in his own head until they make sense, until he can get through it to the point that the disappointment in himself and the entire situation isn’t so crushing. He had gotten himself to a good position until he’d discovered Kaner’s whereabouts and now all he can think about is Kaner making poor choices, starting an off-season of debauchery from the outright and wondering exactly how much of this is just a coping mechanism. Selfishly, he’d hoped Kaner would’ve wanted to cope with _him_ but then again it’s probably not healthy how much Johnny wants to look after him. 

His birthday’s tomorrow and Kaner’s closer to him now than he was 24 hours ago even though his supposed best friend doesn’t know he knows this. He wonders if his new proximity means anything, but knows it probably doesn’t. He’s sure Kaner doesn’t even remember. Part of Johnny wants to get on a plane and collect Kaner from a bed in some college dorm like he’s his property. 

He doesn’t though. Instead, he goes out to Sunda, eats some good food, and returns home alone after 1am. As he’s opening in door his phone buzzes. 

**Happy Birthday**

It’s just two stupid words from Kaner and he knows they’re probably said flatly, but he can’t help the smile on his face. Still, he won’t give Kaner that satisfaction and instead says, **Good to know you’re alive** in response.

He doesn’t expect the phone call as he’s tossing his keys on the coffee table and wandering into the kitchen for some water. 

“Johnny. Hey. Hey.” 

Johnny rolls his eyes as he opens the refrigerator door.

“You’re drunk, Kaner.”

“I am. I definitely am.”

“And you’re whispering. Loudly.”

He hears a sound, like someone tripped over something. “I’m like, making a break for it. Woke up in some dorm room.”

Johnny rests his head against the fridge and takes a deep breath, wishing his earlier knight in shining armor thoughts hadn’t been so damn on point. “I hope you were safe.”

“It was just handjobs, dude. All good.”

Johnny’s eyes shoot open at that. “Kaner, you--”

He can practically hear the shrug in Kaner’s voice. “Dude was hot, man. Whatever, it’s Iowa they’re not like, gossiping or malicious in Iowa right?”

He adds one too many syllables to ‘malicious.’ Johnny rubs his fingers at his forehead. It’s funny that he barely feels any jealousy anymore. He doesn’t have a claim to it, anyway. 

“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter now, does it?” he says, resignedly. He suddenly just feels so, so tired.

“Hey. Hey Johnny, you’re. You’re disappointed aren’t you? You’re being all captainy and judging and pinching your nose right now, right?”

Johnny walks into the living room and drops onto the couch, hating that he finds Kaner’s drunkenness almost fond. It’s part of the problem, really. 

“I can’t stop you from living the way you want to, Kaner. As your friend, I just don’t have to like it.”

“Friend,” Kaner repeats, and now it sounds like he’s outside. “You’re – you’re my _best_ friend, you know that? Even though I don’t even hang out with you as much as other people – even though I’d rather party with anyone but you ever, even though I act sometimes like you’re just the worst and would rather be around anyone else. You’re. You scare me.”

Johnny frowns, trying to process the rapid rant Kaner just went on. “Why do I scare you?”

“Because!’ Kaner shouts. “Because you’ve got all this shit figured out and sometimes it’s like you’re waiting for me to figure it out too and I don’t know how to do that – I don’t know what it means that I’d rather be sitting on your couch right now than partying and when I realized that this week I had to get away, okay? I can’t like, cling to you just because I’m needy, even though you’re the only person I’ve wanted to be around all week.”

Johnny lets out a shuddering breath. “Kaner. Just come home.”

Kaner lets out a frustrated growl, like he does on the ice more often than not. “No, don’t you – Johnny, do you fucking understand what I’m saying here?”

“You’re saying you’re tired of being a frat boy and would rather watch bad reality TV on my couch.” It sounds disbelieving even to Johnny’s own ears. 

Kaner’s silent for a moment. “That’s a scary fucking thought but I think it’s true, man.”

Johnny feels his pulse race. “You mean it?”

“On that couch, can there be making out?”

Johnny’s smiling outright now. “Yes, Patrick, there can be making out.”

“A lot of making out, Johnny. A shitload of sex. If I’m gonna stop hooking up, you’d better make it worth my while.”

Johnny laughs loudly, even though Kaner’s words are making his palms sweat. “I’ll take one for the team. Trust me, mankind will thank me.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, you love my sex. I rock your world.”

Johnny shakes his head, the idiotic grin still in place. “Where _are_ you right now? Is anyone hearing this conversation?”

“Pfft. Waiting for a cab outside the dorm. Going to the airport.”

“Another stop on your college tour?”

Kaner barks out a laugh. “You stalkin’ me man?” 

Johnny’s face begins to heat up but Kaner continues, “Nah, there’s someone I need to wish happy birthday to in person. Besides, you told me to come home, right?”

Johnny did. He just never believed it would be this easy. 

“You sure you’re ready for this?”

He hopes Kaner isn’t too drunk to understand what he’s asking.

“Time to grow-up, man,” Kaner says, voice a little low, earnest. 

Johnny rests his head back against the couch and smiles again. “Come on home, Patrick.”

[end]


End file.
